Delivered | New user experience and feature discoverability of an Aviation App
Overview
ORGANIZATION
Foreflight (A Boeing Company)
ROLE
UX Design and Research
Duration
3 Months (Jan 2025 - March 2025)
Team
2 UX Designer + 1 UX Researcher + 1 Human Factors Engineer
my Tasks
Project Management, Usability Test, Design Recommendations
The Problem
First-time users of ForeFlight’s iOS tablet app struggled with onboarding and feature discovery, resulting in navigation issues and reduced task efficiency.
My Project
Led usability testing and delivered 15 recommendations with supporting journey maps, storyboards, and UI improvement concepts to guide re-design of a more intuitive new user experience.
Outcome
Redesigning Onboarding and Discovery with Research-Backed Recommendations
First-time users struggled with onboarding and feature discovery — the recommendations directly addressed these pain points and informed the redesign of more intuitive pathways, clearer navigation, and personalized entry points to essential features.
Led usability testing and delivered 15 clear, prioritized recommendations, supported by journey maps, storyboards, and UI prototypes to guide the redesign of a more intuitive experience.
“I was just confused because I figured that the symbol that says settings would have everything" - Routine FF user (3YOE)
Drag the center icon to see the before and after versions!
What I did
7 participants interviewed
15 actionable recommendation
16 findings
Project Management
Jump to Recommendations
Glossary
For non-aviation folks
What is Foreflight?
An all-in-one platform used in in 188 countries to plan flights, check weather, access maps, and track their position using GPS. Think of it as Google Maps + weather + flight dashboard for aviation.
When is it used?
Pilots begin using ForeFlight in ground school to study airspace and weather. It becomes a daily tool through training and professional flying—for planning routes, checking conditions, and navigating in-flight.
Market Impact
ForeFlight is the market leader, used by over 80% of general aviation pilots. It competes with Garmin Pilot, WingX, and FlightPlan Go, but stands out for its widespread trust across training and commercial aviation.
Research Questions
Understanding how new users navigate and adopt ForeFlight
?
How does the onboarding process facilitate new users in understanding, discovering, and accessing essential features? In what ways does it support users? Are there any specific steps that may lead to confusion or delays?
?
Do users intuitively learn how to use the app, or do they seek external resources for guidance?
?
Which features do new users attempt to access first, and how easily can they locate essential features within the app?
Users
Designing for a Diverse Range of Users
In Focus
General Aviation Pilots
Aviation Enthusiasts
Private Pilots
Student Pilots
Flight Instructors
Out of scope
Military & Government Pilots
Business Aviation Pilots
Study Plan
Planning the Study with Realistic Tasks and Diverse Users
Overview of the study
Considerations While Planning the Usability Study
Diverse experience levels: Recruited new, routine, and expert users to capture varied mental models.
Realistic tasks: Aligned scenarios with actual aviation workflows to ensure relevance.
Think-aloud protocol: Observed navigation behavior and confusion in real-time.
Debrief interviews: Captured user reflections and the reasoning behind their actions.
SUS survey: Quantified usability to complement qualitative insights.
Test Scenarios
Testing Early Navigation Patterns and User Expectations
Free Exploration
Why: To see what features users naturally gravitate toward and the initial friction points.
Learning: Gave insight into first impressions, navigation habits, and user expectations.
Personalizing the App
Why: Pilots need the screen to stay active during flight. We tested how easily users could find this setting.
Learning: The option was hard to locate due to scattered touchpoints, exposing a key discoverability issue.
Checking Weather & Temperature
Why: We wanted to see how users navigated the routine task and if the data supported flight decisions.
Learning: New users found the info dense and overwhelming, showing a need for more intuitive presentation.
Free Exploration
Why: We wanted to see how confidently users could access scattered map controls.
Learning: Many relied on trial-and-error, revealing friction in interaction flow and layout clarity.
Analysis
Where Users Get Stuck (and Why It Matters)
120s vs. 15s
New users struggled to locate and adjust sleep settings, pointing to poor discoverability.
12x Longer
A basic interaction took significantly longer for new users, revealing gaps in onboarding and UI clarity.
5x Delay
Experienced users faced friction in stopping the app from sleeping, suggesting unclear controls.
What this shows us
There is a steep learning curve, even for those who have used ForeFlight for years. Basic actions and key personalization features aren’t always intuitive, highlighting the need for better onboarding and more discoverable UI pathways.
Challenge
Simplifying a Trusted Platform Without Reducing Its Power
A loved product
Despite the learning curve, pilots trust and love the app. In a 2020 Aviation Consumer survey, 89% rated it highly for its practical features. Its depth and reliability keep them coming back.
The Challenge
ForeFlight is packed with features to serve a wide range of users—from student pilots to military crews. That flexibility adds power, but also complexity, especially for new users trying to find their way.
The Takeaway
Designing for ForeFlight means balancing rich functionality with intuitive access—supporting both new discovery and long-term habit
Strategy
Strategic Prioritization to Maximize Design Impact
Impact Effort Matrix
Presenting this Impact-Effort Matrix to the stakeholder helped us align on priorities and set realistic expectations. It clarified which changes were quick wins, which required larger investments, and which had lower impact, allowing us to make informed decisions before moving into the redesign phase.
Findings
Critical Pain Points in Navigation, Access, and Exit Behaviors
Finding 1: Disjointed Touchpoints Created Confusion
Finding 2: Navigation Didn’t Reflect User Priorities
Finding 3: Inconsistent Exit Paths Eroded Confidence
Recommendation
Confusion over multiple map touch-points and lack of visual hierarchy
Finding 1: Disjointed Touchpoints Created Confusion
Severity: Medium
Map Layers are essential to flight planning, used daily to visualize weather, terrain, and airspace. But the access experience was fractured: multiple entry points, unclear structure, and no visual hierarchy. Even experienced pilots second-guessed their actions, leading to hesitation and inefficiencies. This wasn’t just a UI flaw; it revealed a deeper structural problem undermining core functionality. Addressing this was critical to restoring confidence and enabling fast, error-free interaction.
“The layers and map settings being in two different areas, I think that was confusing” - New FF User
Usability Issue
No Categorization in Map Layers
The absence of defined categories made it difficult for both new and experienced users to navigate the list—resulting in information overload and slowed task completion.
Overwhelming Long Scroll
A long, ungrouped list of map overlays created visual clutter, making it hard for new users to skim, scan, and understand the options available.
L: Snapshot of user journey: Multiple errors because of scattered categories. R: Scatteredness of map items.
Design Recommendation
Used Radio Buttons for Single Selection
To improve clarity, we replaced checkboxes with radio buttons for single-choice scenarios, helping users better understand available options and avoid accidental multiple selections.
Added ‘Reset’ and ‘Done’ CTAs
Introduced clear Reset and Done buttons to simplify exit navigation, allowing users to confidently confirm or discard changes without confusion.
Static Navigation Bar Misaligned With Diverse User Needs
Finding 2: Navigation Didn’t Reflect User Priorities
Severity: Medium
Users struggled with a fixed navigation bar that didn’t match their workflows. What’s essential for one pilot might be rarely used by another. With diverse pilot roles and goals, this lack of personalization slowed task access and added friction to routine use. Giving users control over navigation wasn’t a bonus—it was essential for efficiency and trust.
“Bottom nav changes, shows whats recently used. I wish its personalizable." - Routine FF user (3YOE)
Usability Issue
Lack of Personalization
The nav bar applied a one-size-fits-all layout for all users regardless of experience or use case. With no personalization, the interface became overwhelming and cluttered, often surfacing irrelevant features.
Lack of Intuitive Hierarchy
Despite being the default landing page, Maps was placed second in the nav bar. Dynamic controls on the page lacked clear grouping or structure, confusing users.
Design Recommendation
Customizable Bottom Navigation
To reduce clutter and better serve diverse user needs, we enabled users to personalize their nav bar instead of showing a fixed set of commonly used features.
Moved Maps to First Position
Since Maps is the default landing page, we moved it to the first nav slot for a more intuitive experience.
Added Flight Plan
As a key feature, Flight Plan was added to the bottom nav to improve visibility and quick access.
Users are unable to exit because of navigation behavior inconsistency
Finding 3: Inconsistent Exit Paths Eroded Confidence
Severity: High
Users became hesitant or failed to exit workflows due to inconsistencies in button behavior. For example, the “Back” button didn’t always return to a logical previous screen, while “Catalog” sometimes jumped to a tab unexpectedly. These inconsistencies broke user flow, eroded trust, and in aviation contexts, introduced unnecessary mental strain—something risky in high-focus environments.
“That seems kinda clunky..." - Routine FF user (3YOE)
#Usability issues
Confusing Button Functionality
The "Catalog" button leads to the Catalog tab, while the "Back" button returns to the previous screen but isn't consistently across screens.
Design Recommendation
Clarified Page vs. Catalog Actions
Established a distinction between actions related to the entire page and those related to individual documents, while also reinforcing a clear hierarchy of content making it easier for users to understand what belongs where.
Re-design
Translating Research into Quick, High-Impact Wins
We prioritized changes that were achievable within product and engineering constraints—balancing user needs with stakeholder goals for minimal development lift. These small but targeted improvements were grounded in user feedback and helped build momentum for larger redesign efforts.
"Because there's so many updates, I feel like there's always something new that I haven't learned yet, and I sometimes feel just a little bit behind the ball."- Expert FF user (10YOE)
Rather than overhauling entire flows, we:
Streamlined key interfaces
Clarified entry points and controls
Improved discoverability of high-use features
These decisions aligned with real stakeholder concerns—how to improve usability without compromising core functionality or delaying deployment.
Before/After Improvements
Landing Screen
Drag the center icon to see the before and after versions!
Documents Page
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Takeaway
Learning with the users – Jumping into a domain as complex as aviation pushed me to rapidly learn industry-specific workflows and language. That steep learning curve gave me firsthand empathy for new users—and shaped how I approached onboarding and discoverability challenges.
Re-Designing a loved product – I learned that even when users are required to use a product—like ForeFlight—frustration still matters. Advocating for change meant shifting the conversation from usability alone to efficiency, safety, and user confidence, which helped drive leadership buy-in.